Field
The embodiments disclosed herein relate to test devices and methods for assessing male fertility.
Description of the Related Art
Male fertility is generally assessed by counting the number of sperm per milliliter in a semen sample. Traditionally, this has been done manually by a trained andrologist. A semen sample is placed under a microscope, and the number of observed sperm are counted in a given area of view. This count is correlated to sample volume to produce a value for sperm per milliliter. In addition to sperm count, sperm motility is also a significant factor in assessing male fertility. A qualitative assessment of sperm motility can be made by visually evaluating the motion of the sperm in the sample under the microscope. These microscope systems are generally expensive, and can produce inconsistent results, even when used by well trained personnel.
Home use reagent based sperm count assays have been developed, such as the SpermCheck® male fertility test kit produced by ContraVac, Inc. and Princeton BioMeditech Corp. This kit can be used at home for a threshold test of sperm count. However, a numerical result for sperm count is not obtainable with this test kit, and it has no facility for assessing sperm motility.